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Tiny motor could power microbots

SWIMMING microbots small enough to make their way through arteries are a step closer, thanks to the creation of a tiny mechanical motor.

Developed by engineers at Monash University in Victoria, Australia, the motor uses a piezoelectric material that vibrates in response to an applied electric field to rotate a flagellum-like tail. At just a quarter of a millimetre in diameter, the device is the smallest of its kind (Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, DOI&colon; 10.1088/09601317/19/2/022001).

The motor could propel a microbot through the bloodstream at up to 6 centimetres per second, the team says. Compared with sensors and …